2B Girls Soccer: Loggers Edge Toledo For District Title

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KALAMA — A pair of underdog teams clawed it out for the District IV 2B girls soccer championship here on Saturday with Onalaska emerging with a 1-0 victory over Toledo.

“It’s pretty amazing to beat Adna and then come here and take care of business against Toledo,” said Onalaska coach Chris VanClifford. “It was certainly unexpected,”

The Loggers managed to defeat the Central 2B League champion Pirates by a score of 1-0 in the semifinals while Toledo took out second-place Kalama with a score of 2-1 to reach the championship.

The unexpected title tilt matchup remained scoreless for the first 38 minutes before Onalaska’s Becca Griel managed a goal off a deflected corner kick.

“That’s districts for you. We just worked hard and kept pressure on the box,” said VanClifford. “Once you get your goal you’ve just got to play defense.”

And play defense they did. The Onalaska defense limited Toledo to just seven shots in the contest, with only one of those kicks winding up on target.

“We knew that we had a rough start to the game. Ony had full pressure right out of the gate and didn’t allow the girls to get comfortable on the field,” said Toledo coach Noel Vasquez. “They had a really good game plan for us and executed it perfectly.”



Toledo goalie Kaylee Veigle did her best to keep her team in contention by notching 15 saves in the contest.

“We were trying to play more of a defensive game with offense more of a second thought. But once the goal happened at halftime we just talked about how we need to start pushing up a little bit because 40 minutes go fast, especially when you’re playing for a district championship,” added Vasquez.

When that second half had elapsed completely without a score for Toledo their coach was left with another task to handle — helping his team rebound mentally as they get ready for the state tournament.

“More than anything the girls were really bummed out. We’ve never won at districts since we split with WInlock and became a 2B team,” said Vasquez, who noted Toledo has never before played for a district soccer title at any level. “The girls watched (Onalaska) lift the trophy and next week I think we’re going to work really hard to make sure we make it to the next round of state at Sumner. We’re going to bounce back.”

With a district championship trophy in hand following a fourth place finish in league Onalaska has now earned the right to host the first round of the state playoffs.

“We’re excited to play that first game as a home game. I think we’ve got a good chance of winning that game so we’re excited to have it in our own backyard,” said VanClifford.

Onalaska will take on Friday Harbor in a local contest. A location, time and date have yet to be announced. Meanwhile, Toledo will most likely face Mount Vernon Christian on Saturday, although a date, time and location are yet to be confirmed.